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Yankees Sore Losers In Weekend Series With Marlins
Seems that the Marlins taking two from the Yankees is just a bit too much to bear. Joe Girardi and the Yankees officially filed a protest to dispute the outcome of the game on Sunday, FOX reports.
Seems Fredi tricked himself with his moves: in the top of the 8th Chris Coghlan was slated to come out of LF for Alejandro De Aza, who batted for Reynel Pinto in a double switch. De Aza never came into the game and with Coghlan in LF, once Leo Nunez threw a pitch, Girardi came out of the Yankees dugout to protest the game. The Marlins had a 6-3 lead at the time.
Seems the intrigue was for naught as the Marlins held on to win 6-5 and arguably, it wasn’t because of any unfair advantage brought on by the mix up. In fact, Girardi joked he would like to uphold the protest and retain the two runs they gained to drop the lead from 6-3 to 6-5. A ruling will come this week about the matter but it should not overturn the result. Just seems like the Yankees, even if they have just cause, really are just being a bit sour about the result of this weekend’s series with the Fish. Stay tuned to see if the Yankees can rob a result from the Marlins, but it looks highly unlikely at this stage.
Citrus Series Proves Sour for Marlins
The Rays came to town and leftquite an impression – blowing out the Marlins in the first two games of the series and rallying back in the final game yesterday to nearly sweep their cross-state rivals. Things are getting tougher these days for the Fish who keep battling anyway.
Yesterday’s 5-4 win in the 11th inning of a Ross Gload slapshot to right field gave the Marlins temporary relief in a series where they just looked overmatched. Take Carl Crawford, for example – in the top of the ninth inning he stole 2B on the first pitch to the hitter after him. The Marlins knew he would and even called for a pitchout – and Crawford still beat the throw.
The Rays scored runs – the Marlins did not. The Rays pitched better and fielded better. Up to this point in the season, the Marlins had been in pretty much every game and hadn’t been blown out. Well, now they have seen that happen twice and to their credit, they fought back and held on long enough to squeeze a win out yesterday.
If this is a sign of things to come, then the Marlins are quickly going in the other direction. The fact that they have now only gone 9-25 since their 11-1 start should send a front office into panic mode. This has yet to happen.
You have to wonder if anything will. The Marlins are going to square off against another rival – the Philadelphia Phillies. Incidentally, the team that beat the Rays in the World Series last year. A great opportunity to really evaluate where the Marlins are heading this season.
Gload’s Non Home Run Proves Historical; Coghlan Hits First Homer as Big Leaguer
The score was 8-5 and Alfredo Amezaga was on 1B with Ross Gload at the plate. With a crack of the bat the ball sailed down the RF line and appeared to be a home run, putting the Marlins right back in the mix.
Instead, something historical happened: the home run was called off.
The umpiring crew got together and discussed possibly overturning the call then reviewed the play. Upon further review, the ball flew to the right of the foul pole and Gload’s home run turned into a long strike. Gload would eventually strike out and the Marlins’ efforts vanished.
This is the first time in Major League history that an umpiring crew overturned a home run upon using the opportunity to review the play. Even though it went against the Marlins, it was the right call.
Yet there was an actual home run that proved to be historical for the Marlins, Chris Coghlan hit his first ever home run as a pro.
The rookie was called up in order to replace Cameron Maybin’s spot in the outfield and as one of the better prospects in the Marlins’ system has garnered some immediate playing time. The lefty can hit for average and has shown patience at the plate. In AA last season he struck out 65 times but walked 67. He has a little pop, too, hitting 7 home runs last year and 12 in 2007. He was called up from AAA New Orleans while hitting .344 with 3 home runs in 96 at bats. He calls to mind another Marlins outfielder with great plate patience and a lefty bat, Mark Kotsay. The rookie will get playing time and with some struggling outfielders, Coghlan could help the Marlins regain some offensive prowess.
Gentlemen Start Your Engines
After all the trades, free agent headlines, minor league promotions and baseball stadium debates, we’re finally at the eve of what its all about….Opening Day.
The Marlins can climb above .500 all time on opening day with a win against the Washington Nationals Monday, currently sitting at 8-8 all-time. Coach Fredi Gonzalez has announced his batting order for tomorrow’s 4:05 start and might look something like this:
Lineup:
3B Emilio Bonifacio
C John Baker
SS Hanley Ramirez
1B Jorge Cantu
2B Dan Uggla
LF Jeremy Hermida
RF Cody Ross
CF Cameron Maybin
P Ricky Nolasco
What to watch:
Most of the success this season is riding on how Nolasco’s right elbow holds up. Entering his fourth season, Nolasco picked up a slider last year and resulted in a 15 win breakthrough season with 186 strikeouts. A big feat for a pitcher who missed his sophomore season due to right elbow inflammation. His 2006 rookie campaign went over unassuming with an 11-11 record and a mediocre 4.86 ERA. So there isn’t much to predict for the ‘09 season based on his past, but Nolasco thinks he can emerge as a household name. Nolasco is ready to emerge as a top pitcher in ‘09
Second is how Maybin handles centerfield and Bonifiacio at third fare. We’ve heard a lot this spring about how Maybin’s name could be a frontrunner for NL Rookie of Year. I say just prove you can play everyday Cam. The hot corner could be a weakness this season and we’ll see right off the gate as the Nats were fourth among NL teams this spring with nearly one and a half more ground outs. Also watch how Bonifiacio will handle the lead off spot…but just against rightys. “Since Bonifacio’s career average hitting right-handed is markedly worse, Gonzalez did not rule out having Cameron Maybin lead off against left-handers.”
Other defensive moves to keep an eye on is Hermida at left and Cantu at first. Cantu has handled first base before and shouldn’t be much of a concern but Hermida has looked foreign at times in left.
Other notes I have; we’ll see how many innings Nolasco goes and who takes the mound after his depature.“If you get great starting pitching and the back-end guys don’t do the job, it’s disheartening. That’s our biggest question mark right now. There’s no getting around it.”
Matt Lindstrom will be ready to pitch tomorrow if it’s a save situation On March 15, while pitching for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic, he exited a game against The Netherlands due to a right rotator cuff strain.
My guess is Leo Nunez (acquired for Mike Jacobs) will see some action tomorrow.
The Nats will send a young 24-year old to the mound in John Lannan. He had a 3.91 ERA in 31 starts before finishing with a 9-15 record. He typically keeps the ball down and was cruising for a strong spring before getting rocked in his last outing. Lannan let up seven runs in a 90-pitch outing through 4 2/3 innings Manny Acta said, “He found it very strange that John couldn’t throw any of his pitches for strikes, not even that sinker that he usually can go back to when he is struggling with the changeup and breaking ball. I told Bard that he usually has a day like that once every two months.”
So what’s everybody’s plan for opening day? How many are going and where are you sitting? If you’re not able to go how do you plan on following the action? MLB.com makes it easier than every to watch ball games online.
Any favorite Opening Day memories? Playing in South Florida has blessed us with 12 home starts to the seson. (One year we traveled up to old Olympic Stadium in Montreal to start the season). Good call on that one right?
Join us!
Talk Opening Day with us over at the forum!
Blow It Up! Marlins Beat Mets to Close 2008 Season Down
Goodbye, Shea Stadium. You won’t be missed.
Well, at least by me. Never been there – went to Yankee Stadium instead. There is nothing that seemed to stand out about Shea except that stupid apple that would light up when the Mets hit home runs.
Too bad it didn’t light up for the last two home runs hit there – one by Wes Helms and one by Dan Uggla. Both home runs pushed the Marlins past the Mets and also propelled the Brewers, officially, into the postseason.
And as Cameron Maybin squeezed his glove around the final out – a pop fly to center field from Ryan Church – the Marlins claimed the win. The boos showered down from the Mets faithful who looked more like a photo op from an enema convention. The signs went up asking for miracles and paging for Dr. Heimlich. The smiles for the Marlins were a bit wider than normal because this victory had some sweetness to it – for the second straight year they eliminated the Mets from the playoffs on their field.
Seems like the Fish own the place. Might as well blow it up and tear it down. The Mets, in their 44 year history there, mustered as many titles as the Marlins have in their brief history.
So, for neither team the season ended as they would have wished. Still, the Marlins climbed to 84 wins (and possibly could have had 85 wins if not for a game that was called against the Nationals) which isn’t bad considering they only have a $22M payroll. With 17 arbitration eligible players on their roster heading into the offseason, it is expected that there will be changes. The payroll is expected to go up, so that is good news.
And so is how the Marlins season ended – they look to be in contention next season. Destroying the Mets season for the second straight season isn’t half bad either.
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